Pheasant Pair

QING PERIOD 1644 to 1911

A MAGNIFICENT RARE PHEASANT 珐琅彩 FALANGCAI SNUFF BOTTLE

The bottle of compressed ovoid form.
Superbly painted with a continuous design around of a pair of pheasants perched on a rocky outcrop.
Set among pale pink flowering peonies, vibrant blue asters, abounded by luxuriant green leafy foliage.
The knotted trunk of a magnolia tree abundantly endowed with lemon yellow buds and blooms.
The male, its plumage a myriad of spectacular colour, the long tail feathers sweeping around.
The female her colours more sedate.
The collar and neck decorated with stylised forms.
The foot a pink dotted border.
A four character Qianlong Period Mark in cobalt blue against a white ground under.

An Exquisitely Painted Masterpiece

This superb bottle is comparable in quality to those bottles produced in the Imperial Workshops of the Imperial Palace, 造 辦 處 Zaobanchu .

Formerly the property of a Japanese collector

Condition: Excellent.

Refer Large Images for details, quality and condition, they also form the description.
Depending on your computer monitor / phone / etc colour may vary to actual.

Dimensions are maximum measurements

Height about: 4.8 cm
Width about: 4.2 cm
A$3,500

Similar Bottles:
Christies New York 29 March 2006. Lot 6 (J & J Collection)
The Christie's bottle is virtually identical, painting and size.
Sold 352,000 USD

A very similar falangcai painted copper snuff bottle was in the Dennis Low Collection.
Another bottle with a pair of pheasants is recorded in the Palace Museum and illustrated in "- Snuff Bottles The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum " Page 95 No. 146

Enamel snuff bottles painted with European scenes were a favourite of the Chinese Court and Chinese collectors in the Qing Period 1644 to 1911.
Snuff bottles were in great demand by western collectors starting in the 19th century and still are.
Snuff bottles with European style artworks were normally based on prints and books transported to China by travellers.
The demand for Chinese art and antiques exploded when the first appropriated artworks taken from the Summer Palace made their way back to England France etc.
Considered by all the major experts such as Bob C. Stevens (the Collectors Book of Snuff Bottlers 1976) and the major famous collections, such as Guo'an. Bloch. Meriem. J & J. to name a few.
The finest of all snuff bottles are those that are enamelled on copper, brass, glass, gold.
The art of enamelling was introduced to the Chinese Court in the Kangxi era 1654 to 1722, by the Jesuit Guiseppe Castiglione (Lan Shining).